Quote:One wonders if the Founding Fathers anticipated the development of the type of weapons and the scope of violence we have today, and whether it would have affected the wording of the 2nd Amendment.

I wonder the same. They had different issues in different times. Having said that however, I might need to revisit something I said previously. I had been reading up on some stuff, and had run across an article talking about Elbridge Gerry and the Swiss type of militia system, and what influence that might have had on his thinking. But I have seen other quotes attributed to the founders that are distinct from militia discussions, and seem to indicate a number of them thought that every law-abiding citizen should have the right to bear arms. I am by no means a constitutional law scholar. However, I am not sure than any stringent restrictions would be in line with the general intent of the founders. Of course the founders intent is not always indicative of what we ought to do, but it does have some bearing on interpreting the Constitution.

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